[Carmel Wright]

Hi Eithne.
Thanks for your post and plan to explore biodiversity in your local area and the possible impacts of light pollution on local biodiversity. This plan has great cross-curricular links and a fun interactive game to engage learners while deepening their understanding of the challenges migrating birds face, including the issue of light pollution.

Engaging in citizen science is a wonderful way to empower learners to contribute to a database and get a better understanding of how to record data and the importance of citizens monitoring species. Inadequate resources are allocated to this work at present to provide the monitoring required, but this data is vital to shaping our understanding of the population changes underway.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Kevin,
Thanks for your post. What a wonderful assortment of songs, art, and poetry for all ages! I had never heard of Aikendrum, but it is a great and fun fit for younger learners. Disney songs like When You Wish Upon a Star are always so popular and will help young learners connect with the night sky and its beautiful stars, beacons of hope in the dark.

Beautiful choices for the senior cycle, and it’s great to see an Irish poet feature on the list. Patrick’s work is so vibrant and visceral that it will captivate your learners. It also makes a great reference to the constellation Cassiopeia and is a nice prompt for leading into an activity, like finding this constellation on Stellarium, etc.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Niamh,
Thanks for your post. Your experience as someone who could appreciate the night sky is tragically becoming rarer, and I think sharing your stargazing stories would be a wonderful prompt for this activity and for senior learners, perhaps even introducing the concept of shifting baselines.

The light pollution map really shows the extent of our impact and where Dublin’s artificial light emissions are almost seven times higher than any other county in Ireland.

ESERO 9 is a fun and interactive way to think about darkness and light and explore in a dark setting. Not all learners may be comfortable being blindfolded for the obstacle course activity, but they can instead direct their partner in this activity and learn from their insights afterwards.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Niamh,

Thanks for your post, and welcome to the course!
What a wonderful way to integrate learning on this, bringing together stories, art, and an understanding of constellations by using Stellarium.

It sounds like you have enthusiastic and passionate senior classes. By embracing their passion for legends, you will engage them fully in the exploration of the constellations, too.

It’s great to see that your classes had the opportunity to visit the Armagh Planetarium a couple of years ago. I hope you get a chance to refresh your memories with a visit this year, too!

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Cathy,
Thanks for your post. I really like your plan to engage learners in the topic of light pollution in their area, providing learners with a point of comparison from 100 years ago and building their understanding through watching the video resource on light pollution.

It’s a wonderful idea to get the learners to act on their newfound understanding of the topic by reaching out to Dublin City Council. This is a way for learners to empower themselves by becoming activists and help them realise the power of their united stance. One letter may never get a response, but 30 or so will.

It’s wonderful to see so many great ideas for cross-curricular links outlined in your plan, including art, English, SPHE, and geography.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Sarah,

Thanks for your post, and welcome to the course!

I can see you have put thought into running this activity in your school and are fortunate to have a suitable location to create your sundial. The orange and torch are a great way to demonstrate how the sun’s position relative to the Earth changes throughout the day and provide learners with a meaningful demonstration of what is happening on a much larger scale.

This activity is rich in mathematical concepts, such as angles and the use of a protractor. It’s great to see how it can be adapted to include more challenges for senior learners, making it a versatile project. For instance, you could explore the accuracy of the sundial compared to a regular watch, or the average difference between them.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Meadhbh,

Thanks for your post, and welcome to the course!

I am glad to see this is something that you see as a good fit for your class. Whether you end up with 3rd class or not again, the great thing is that this activity can be readily adapted to the class’s abilities. You mentioned the chalk outline, which works very well with junior classes right through to senior classes!

This can then be built upon by creating the sundial, and I am delighted to read that you have a sundial on your doorstep. What a great prompt for the activity and the excursion rolled into one! You may be surprised by how many learners don’t know what it is or does despite it being a feature in your local park.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Brian,

Thanks for your post, and welcome to the course. You make a good point about the abstract nature of time. By reflecting on the cyclical nature of the seasons, it will certainly give rise to interesting insights, and questions like how to tell the time without a watch are great prompts to get started into this activity.

I like your idea of doing a survey. To add to their ICT skills it could be designed and completed on Survey Monkey if you are dealing with senior students.

A sundial is a great way to engage further with this topic, with accessible materials and the good fortune of a sunny day! It does not take too long to make; even monitoring twice or three times in one day is adequate to give learners an understanding of this rudimentary technology.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Barbara,

Thanks for your post. The Home video does serve as a powerful reminder that we need to focus on what remains, not what is gone. It’s a lot to take in in one sitting, (even as an adult! ) but depending on class age, some segments may serve a purpose in deepening understanding about the current crisis and its solutions.

Some other posts have made reference to the “circle of control”, and I think that it is important because students have limited capacity to make choices at this point in their lives. Parents/guardians determine what they eat, how they travel, they are too young to vote, etc, but we each can do little things and together, these little things can have a big impact, inspire further and greater acts of sustainability, and influence others to do better.

The worksheet for the Ice is Melting is a great hands-on activity, providing a series of robust questions for learners to answer, and a great add on to your class plan.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Sarah,

Thanks for your post, and welcome to the course!
Dr Liston’s paper is an insightful read and a reminder for us all of what STEM truly means and should include in an authentic learning experience. It can serve as a useful benchmark for how to deliver in the classroom, and I am glad to see it gave rise to your reflection on including more engineering.

You make a great point about how the activities don’t require fancy resources- this can be a real barrier to participation for schools.

Fortunately, most STEM concepts can be explained/demonstrated or designed with minimal resource investment. Often the contents of a recycling bin is what is required- a great reminder for learners of the importance of reusing, too, and being resourceful. Integrating topics is a great way to add more time to complete activities, especially with a jam-packed curriculum!

[Carmel Wright]

Hello Ciara,

Thanks for your post and reflections on this module. Climate change certainly is a hot topic at present, and while the focus on the press is often on it being the hottest month/summer/year, which is a symptom of the problem, more spotlight needs to be given to the solutions and the positive changes underway, that needs to be both celebrated and accelerated.
I see you have experience using Paxi’s resources in the classroom before, and I am glad they are a hit with your learners! Your idea to tie in with the Green Schools Committee is a great way to get the whole school engaged in this activity and demonstrate to learners the power of a committed group in prompting positive changes, like walking to school week, etc.

I am glad to see that this module gave you pause to reflect on the age at which you should introduce this topic. With careful consideration, teachers can gently introduce this with the help of accessible resources like the Paxi video.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Niamh,

Thanks for your post. I am delighted to see that you found this module interesting. You have prepared a comprehensive plan on how to deliver a meaningful activity with your class, and it is great to see that you have incorporated tools to aid understanding and frame the activity, with the KWL chart, Kahoot quiz, and reflections after using TEAL.

By taking time to demonstrate how to use TEAL and giving learners a chance to find specific predictions using iPads, learners will quickly become familiar with this tool and develop their skills and confidence in its use.

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Tina,

Thanks for your post. You make important points, and I agree that it is important to balance the content delivery. It’s a challenging balancing act that each teacher must consider in their selection of resources. The Earth song is a powerful intro to the topic and a good choice with contrasting images of life with and without forests and biodiversity, and a dramatic yet accurate depiction of our impact.

Greta is a wonderful role model, and her no-nonsense, clear-cut viewpoint on the issue and courage in taking a stand at such a young age is a powerful reminder of our ability and power to demand change. Closer to home, we have a lot of inspirational young influencers, too, such as Saoirse Exton, who is the Western European representative on the seven-member UN Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group (YAG) on Climate Change.

The following article highlights sher work and those of other young activists here in Ireland: ‘A world with climate justice is a better world’: Meet the young Irish people fighting for the environment (msn.com)

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Evan,

Thanks for your post, and welcome to the course.

The Save the Planet video, narrated by David Attenborough, is a wonderful introduction to the topic. With its accessible language, vibrant imagery, and David’s positive can-do attitude, it is ideal for young learners, focusing on the solutions.

I am delighted to see you enjoyed the Curious Minds video and took something from it. Creating a narrative/prompt with someone stealing the jellies really creates a sense of fun and engages learners. The video shows well how any activity can be adapted to a class’s abilities. I hope you get a chance to carry out these activities in the coming year!

[Carmel Wright]

Hi Fiona,

Thanks for your post and welcome to the course. Dr Liston’s paper provides a lot of food for thought on creating meaningful STEM lessons and STEM’s true meaning.

I am delighted to see that you plan on making use of the resources provided in this module. Your senior learners will develop both their STEM skills and understanding through engaging with this activity; creating their own instruments will provide them with a welcome hands-on opportunity to create and learn.

It’s a wonderful opportunity to deep-dive into this topic by monitoring and analysing results over time, with plenty of opportunities for cross-curricular links, too.

[Author]

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